End-user platforms that execute computer programs are known in the art. This increasingly includes small and portable platforms such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and so forth. Increasingly, such end-user platforms have considerable processing power. This, coupled with the ready ability to communicatively couple such a platform to remote sources of executable programs, is leading to a corresponding increasing demand for an ability to download executable programs to devices such as a cellular telephone.
Unfortunately, harmful programs are also known in the art. Whether of malicious intent (such as a virus, a worm, or so-called malware of other kind) or owing to mere negligence or misguided thinking, a harmful program downloaded to a susceptible platform can lead to temporarily or permanently disrupted operability, lost data, co-opted functionality, and so forth. Various anti-virus solutions are known in the art to combat these circumstances. Unfortunately, the storage and computational requirements of such approaches tend to render them quite unsuitable for use in the limited-resource setting that typifies a large number and variety of end-user platforms.
As a result, many end users are relegated to downloading content from only certain trusted sources. This, however, prevents the end users from availing themselves of the benefit of a great number and variety of executable programs that can extend in various desirable ways the functionality their platforms. This can and will lead to end-user discontent, frustration, and potentially undesirable behaviors involving unauthorized (and typically ill-advised) attempts to modify their platforms in some manner in order to permit the otherwise unavailable download.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.